Thread by @joulee

Great designers are strong at "product thinking." This is a key aspect of many design interviews, as well as many PM or VC ones.

But what exactly is product thinking? And how does one get good at it?

Thread below 👇

First, what is "product thinking?"

My definition is simple: Do you have good instincts about what makes a product useful and well-loved by people

More than that, could you design toward that outcome?

To have good instincts about what makes a product beloved, you generally have...

1) Curiosity about how people think and behave

2) Understanding of why various products are popular/unpopular

3) A habit of analyzing new products

4) An eye for seeing good/bad user experiences

The following types of questions try to get at product thinking:

1) Critique Product X — which decisions are smart? Which aren't? Why?

2) How would you help Product X win over Audience Y if you were its leader?

3) Take problem Z... What would you design to solve it?

The very best product thinkers I know are insatiable about understanding why things work. They love to discuss their favorite services, but not just what they like/dislike; they also consider the broader landscape of why a product might work for an audience that *isn't* them.

The most important qualities in improving one's product thinking are:

👀 curiosity
🔍 observation

How do you become a better observer?

1) Start by observing your own reactions to the products and experiences in your life.

2) Then, observe your friends' reactions

3) Then, observe the broader world's reactions

4) Finally: Be curious about why the reaction is what it is

Curiosity comes in many forms, eg:

1) talking with others about why they have the reactions they do
2) reading books about human thinking/behavior (ie Thinking Fast and Slow)
3) dissecting cultural phenomena
4) trying out new products
5) making products and seeing the outcome

If you want to improve your product thinking, I suggest two metrics to track:

1) how many conversations / reflections per week do you have on why a product, feature or service works or doesn't work?

2) how many new features/products/services do you try a week?

It's not innate talent to be have a good product sense. Designers are relatively strong here because of practices like design critique—few other roles get as much exposure to other people's opinions on the daily.

Researchers, data analysts, VCs can gain product sense through pattern-matching from large sets of data. PMs, engineers, marketers develop it in the trenches of repeated shipping and iteration.